States and territories of the United States

An American state is one of the states of the United States of America.

They have some powers and sovereignty which they share with the United States federal government.

Four states (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky) use the term commonwealth rather than State because they called themselves that when the United States was first formed, but this is only tradition and they are still states.

The states, with their U.S. postal abbreviations and capitals, are:

Phoenix, Arizona, the largest state capital

Montpelier, Vermont, the smallest state capital

AL Alabama - Montgomery AK Alaska - Juneau AZ Arizona - Phoenix AR Arkansas - Little Rock CA California - Sacramento CO Colorado - Denver CT Connecticut - Hartford DE Delaware - Dover FL Florida - Tallahassee GA Georgia - Atlanta HI Hawaii - Honolulu ID Idaho - Boise IL Illinois - Springfield IN Indiana - Indianapolis IA Iowa - Des Moines KS Kansas - Topeka KY Kentucky - Frankfort LA Louisiana - Baton Rouge ME Maine - Augusta MD Maryland - Annapolis MA Massachusetts - Boston MI Michigan - Lansing MN Minnesota - Saint Paul MS Mississippi - Jackson MO Missouri - Jefferson City

MT Montana - Helena NE Nebraska - Lincoln NV Nevada - Carson City NH New Hampshire - Concord NJ New Jersey - Trenton NM New Mexico - Santa Fe NY New York - Albany NC North Carolina - Raleigh ND North Dakota - Bismarck OH Ohio - Columbus OK Oklahoma - Oklahoma City OR Oregon - Salem PA Pennsylvania - Harrisburg RI Rhode Island - Providence SC South Carolina - Columbia SD South Dakota - Pierre TN Tennessee - Nashville TX Texas - Austin UT Utah - Salt Lake City VT Vermont - Montpelier VA Virginia - Richmond WA Washington - Olympia WV West Virginia - Charleston WI Wisconsin - Madison WY Wyoming - Cheyenne

In addition to the states, several other areas belong to the United States:

• AS American Samoa
• DC District of Columbia, which is the seat of the Federal government
• GU Guam
• MP Northern Mariana Islands, Commonwealth
• PR Puerto Rico, Commonwealth
• VI the United States Virgin Islands

Map of states

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